Groningen Airport Eelde receives a subsidy of 22 million euros from the province of Groningen. The money is intended for 10 years, for activities that are not directly related to flying, such as safety and the fire brigade.
The Provincial Executive’s proposal must still be approved by Parliament. The intention is for the province of Drenthe to make a decision on a similar amount next month.
“It is a considerable amount. But a lot of great things are happening at the airport, which is also of great importance for the province of Groningen and Drenthe,” says Henk Emmens (BBB) deputy of economic affairs. “We will continue with the airport in this way. This also makes the world more accessible to Groningen residents.”
Without this money we cannot operate
Meiltje de Groot, director of the northern airport, is ‘extremely grateful’ about the proposal. “This is important for us and for the Northern Netherlands. Eelde is out of the danger zone for the time being. This is enough for us to pay the costs for the next ten years. Without this money we cannot operate.”
Thanks to the subsidy, the future of Groningen Airport Eelde looks much better, especially if Drenthe also takes its share, says De Groot. She would like to see the airport’s opening hours extended slightly, to 6 am instead of half past six and twelve o’clock in the evening instead of eleven o’clock. “We still have room to grow.” Eelde had almost 100,000 flights last year. The deficit was about 300,000, much less than the 1.4 million expected.
Discussions with Schiphol
De Groot says that discussions with Schiphol are still ongoing. That also happened in recent days. Eelde would like to shift some of the activities of that busy airport to this part of the country, but so far Schiphol has held back. “But they also believe that these types of costs should be paid by the government and that also happens here. That makes it easier. Schiphol also wants to be part of the region.”
She does not find it strange that government money is going to the regional airport again. “Eighty percent of the regional airports need more money.”
Sustainable initiatives
The management is trying to broaden the economic support base, according to De Groot. For example, work is being done on a new business park of 15 hectares. There are also plans for sustainable initiatives such as electric flying and flying using hydrogen. Eelde talks about the latter subject with Airbus and Fokker. From 2027, aircraft that fly on this new fuel should be tested.
It is still too early to say whether there will be new connections from Eelde next year. According to De Groot, the airlines are still keeping their powder dry and are waiting for developments at Schiphol, which may have to shrink considerably.